Support



June 4, 1935 J.VH. WOODBERRY' SUPPORT File'd Jun 25, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Inventnr John H.Wundh ei1:y

June 4, 1935. J. H. WOODBERRY SUPPORT Filed June 25, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 rr 2. flh d VD mD v H n.

Patented June 4,

l The invention described. herein may be manufactured and used by orffor thev Government for governmental purposes, without thegpayment 'to ma te ly royalty thereon;

byfa plurality of invention relates to a support and more particularly aims reference to a-supportformed legs andintended for mounting agun.

The invention finds a general expression in a. tripod whose meeting ends include relativelythin i bearingplatesarran ged in parallel, superimposed relation and heldtogether by avertical'pivot pin; A supporting member having a similar bearing plate arranged complementary to thewbearing plates. of the legs is also retained by the pivot pin and isfree to be rotated thereon.

The invention furthercontemplates the pro-j Vision of washers interposed between the bearing plates and means for resiliently confining the bearing plates andwashers on the pivot pin. V "I'he' mount' includesa novel arrangement for "limiting opening of thet'rail legs and a crossbar for positively locking thetraiflegs in the open position; "The cross bar i s associated with'fan thereto.

" elevating mechanism which may be clamped.

' v "with the foregoing afd other objects in view,

i Fig; 3*is a'plan-vjiew, partly in section o'fthe' front leg.

the invention resides in the novel arrangement and combination of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described. and claimed,

it beingunderstood that changes in'the precise embodiment of" the invention herein; disclosed may be made within the scope'of what is claimed without departingfrom; the spirit ,of the inven- "tion. f x

A practical embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingjdrawings,wheresupport with a machine gun mounted'thereon. j

Fig--2 is a plan view of the support in open or t d d os t o 1 support'in folded position. l i I Fig. 4 "is a longitudinal sectional View of, the right trail legof theSIlPD rt.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the bearingplate of the Fig; 6 isa view in side elevation showing the arrangement of the partsprior to assembly and"- Fig. '7 is a view inside elevation of the elevating mechanism. 7

The tripod consists-generally .of a front leg 5 and a pair of rear or trail legs .6 and I. Inthe preferred form thelegs are .U shaped in crossarnended April 30,=1928; 370 O. G. 757) section and are assembled with the open side disposed underneath towards the ground.

The head of the tripodis'constituted by the meeting or pivot ends of the legswhich are each provided with enlarged bearing plates (Fig. 6) respectivelyfia, 5a, andl'a. The plates are arranged to be superimposed. in parallel relationship preferably with the bearing plate 50. of the front eg underneath and thebearing plate la of the left trail leg uppermost. A gun-supportins iwme ing standard in the'form of a clevis includes arms 8 of aflexible' metal and a base 9 constituting a bearing plateconiorming' to the bearing plates on the legs and arranged to seat above the bearing plate 101.. Washers i6 are interposed between the bearing plates an'djafior'd means for obtains ing uniformity and a degree of friction'appropriate forsmoothn'ess' of action and'stability.

The washers are preferably of leather and while their use is desirable, they may not be essential assembly, lends itself to automatic adjustment and presents'a'lar'ger friction area than a-fflat It'is to be clearly understood however that other shapes of plates may be employed with effectiveness.

The bearingplates and washers 'ara1 centrally apertured to receive a vertically disposed pivot pin H having'a headI I2 on its upper end and a threaded lower extremity l3 for receiving 'a nut 54. Spring washers l5 and 16 are respec xtively disposed'between the head l2 and nut 14 and the adjoining bearing platesQ The spring washers in addition to assisting in imparting fie V l t I V :ibili ty; afford automatic meansforwear adjustig, 1 is a view in side elevation of the improved i "enclosed:- The gun-supporting clevis' which is likewise firmly held in its place in the tripod head is free to rotate in traverse while remaining. sta-';

ble against vibrationvdue' to the forces ofdischarge of the weapon mounted thereon. The nut' 7 M on the pivot pin serves as a means for obtaining tension adjustments." t

4 The arms 8 of the gun supporting standard are, as previously mentioned, of a flexible metal to providea yielding resistance in the connection between the arms and a gun, l! whichis mounted on a trunnion pin l8 passing through the arms.

obtained.

The bearing plate 51; of the front leg is provided on its rim with three projecting lugs, two of them A designated 2i and 22 being substantially diametrically opposite one another and the remaining lug 23 being generally opposite to the leg 5 so that it will be disposed between the trail legs. I The lugs 2i and 22 serve to limit opening or separation p obviously be curved on an appropriate arc.

of the trail legs 6 and l and are respectively engaged by shoulders 24 and 25 on' the legs. The lug 23 serves to limit closing of the legs and as shown in Fig. 3 bears externally against-the in ner side of the right leg 6 and internally against the outer side of the left leg 1. p I

While the pivot assembly and arrangement is generally sufiicient to meet the requirements of rigidity there are advantages to be gained in having the legs definitelypositioned by the lugs 2! and 22 and then securely locked in proper relation. The locking means consists of a traversing cross-bar 25 Whose ends are arranged to have a sliding movement in opposite directions on the trail legs 6 and 'lwhen the trail legs are -moved together. Specifically, each end of the cross-bar has a pivotal connection 2? with. a sleeve 28 adapted to slide on a rod- 29 carried by the trail leg. The rods 29 are arranged to enable the sleeves to move in opposite directions and to this end one rod is housed in the front part of one leg while the other rod is housed in the rear part" of the other leg asclearly shown in Fig. 2.

Referringto Fig. 4, the rod 29'has an angled .end 30 extending through an aperture in the leg and receiving a wing nut 3|. The opposite end 32 of the rod is supported for freepivotal move ment; in the right leg it rests on the spade 33 and on the left leg it rests on a stirrup 34. V

Due to the weight of the cross-bar 26 and the rods 29 the wing nuts will normally rest on the in the sliding and'locking construction of the cross-bar. v a

A barrel 35 carrying a screw elevating mechanism 36 has a foot 3'! provided with a recessed under side 38 adapted to engage the cross-bar 26 (Fig. 7). A clamp 39 pivotally mounted on the foot has an angled end 40 normally urged towards the recessed side 38 of the foot by a spring ll and adapted to engage the under side of the cross-bar to prevent sliding movement of the elevating mechanism along the cross-bar. When it is desired to traverse the gun it is only necessary to release the pressure of the clamp onthe cross-bar and then move the gun and elevating mechanism laterally. The elevating mechanism carries a pin 42 at its upper end whereby it is attached to the rear end of the gun.

When a straight traversing bar is employed, the elevatingmechanism will'be inclined as it moves laterally. This will result in a slight change in the angle of elevation of the gun. Where such a change is objectionable the traversing'bar will In Fig. 1 the front leg 5 is shown as being attached to an inclined bracket 23 on the bearing plate 511 by means of a bolt 44. The under side' of the bracket is open to enable the leg to be front leg when the tripod is open. By omitting the lugs 24, 22 and 23 or by loosening the pivot assembly HHl the front leg maybe rotated about the'p'ivot pin 1 I until it is in position under the rear legs.

When the gun and tripod are to be transported as a unit, the barrel 350i the elevating mechanism is removed from the traversing cross-bar 26, which is then moved towards parallelism with the rear'legs as in Fig. 3. The front leg is folded under the rear legs and the elevating mechanis is iolde'd under the gun. 1

The operations involved in folding and unfolding the legs of the tripod may be easily and quickly performed. I l r The present tripod while being'of light weight possesses considerablestrength and affords sufficient stability to permit the accurate delivery of overhead and indirect fire. 1

Iclaim: v V

1. In a gun mount, a pair of legs foldable in a substantially common plane, a rod housed in the front part of one leg, a similar rod housed having an'angled end inserted through an approximately .centralportion of ,the leg in which it is housed, means on each leg freely supporting 1111 the rear part of the other leg, said rods each the other end of. the rod, a nut on each angled end. a sleeve on each rod, and a cross-bar pivotally carried by the sleeves.

2. In a gun mount, a pair of legs foldable in a. substantially common plane, a sleeve carried by each leg, the sleeves on the two legs slidable in opposite directions froman approximately central point, a bar pivotally secured to the sleeves, and means actingathrough the sleeves for drawing the bar against the legs whereby the bar is held against pivotal movement. I 3. In a mount for guns, a pair of trails, a bar connected to the trails, an elevating'mechanism having a recessed footadapted to. engage the bar, anda latch pivotally carried by the foot and having an angled end adapted to engage the bar. 

